Fired-up Afridi eyes England scalp in T20 series opener

DUBAI: Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi cannot wait to go up against England in the three-match T20 series that starts here on Thursday (today).
These are important times for the international sides in the shorter format with a chance to experiment with just over three months to go until the World Twenty20 in March in India.
Pakistan finished runners-up in the first edition of the World Twenty20 in 2007 before winning the crown two years later in England and are now ranked No 2 in the game, six places above this week’s opponents.
They need to win the series, at least by a 2-1 margin, to maintain their standings - a fact Afridi believes will spur on his team.
“We want to settle down before the World Twenty20,” said Afridi.
“Besides that we are ranked number two so it’s an important series for us in many ways and we will do our best to win it.”
Pakistan are likely to get two to three Twenty20 matches if their series against India is held next month, before they head to New Zealand for another three matches. They will also feature in the Asia Cup to be held in Bangladesh in February.
The Green-shirts are hampered by the absence of ace spinner Saeed Ajmal, who is struggling with a new bowling action which needed alteration after it was deemed illegal.
Besides Ajmal, the highest wicket-taker in all Twenty20 cricket with 85, paceman Umar Gul (joint second highest with 83 wickets) was also not selected as he is recovering from injury, while opening batsman Mohammad Hafeez is banned from bowling.
Pakistan have enjoyed mixed success in the series so far having won the three-Test series 2-0. But they were floored by England in the four-match One-day International series 3-1.
“England players should have a lot of confidence from the way they’ve played going into the three T20 matches, knowing they can play in these conditions against this quality of opposition,” said Bayliss.
“It’s another step on the way to that World Twenty20 in March-April. We want to play this T20 series and win that as well as we possibly can, but it’s also a bit of a testing ground.”
The remaining two matches will be held in Dubai on Friday (tomorrow) and in Sharjah on Monday.

Today’s match
Pakistan vs England
09:00 pm (PST)